Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition System and Operating Method Thereof

ABSTRACT

A thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system includes a bottom chamber, an upper chamber, a workpiece support, a heater and at least one shielding plate. The upper chamber is present over the bottom chamber. The upper chamber and the bottom chamber define a chamber space therebetween. The workpiece support is configured to support a workpiece in the chamber space. The heater is configured to apply heat to the workpiece. The shielding plate is configured to at least partially shield the bottom chamber from the heat.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/221,506, filed on Jul. 27, 2016, and entitled “Thermal Chemical VaporDeposition System and Operating Method Thereof” which claims priority toU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/241,629 filed Oct. 14, 2015,and entitled “Adjustable Reflective Bottom Plate For Thermal ChemicalVapor Deposition (CVD) Process Uniformity Improvement,” whichapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a chemical process adopted in thesemiconductor manufacturing industry to produce films. In general, awafer is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/ordecompose on the wafer to produce the film of deposit. In practice, theuniformity of the film affects the quality of the film deposition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It isnoted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry,various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of thevarious features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity ofdiscussion.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD)system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a shielding plate in accordance with some otherembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an explored view of a shielding plate in accordance with someother embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 4-6 are plan views of a shielding plate in accordance with someother embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, orexamples, for implementing different features of the provided subjectmatter. Specific examples of components and arrangements are describedbelow to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merelyexamples and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the formationof a first feature over or on a second feature in the description thatfollows may include embodiments in which the first and second featuresare formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in whichadditional features may be formed between the first and second features,such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact. Inaddition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/orletters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose ofsimplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationshipbetween the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising”, or “includes” and/or “including” or “has” and/or“having” when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, regions, integers, operations, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, regions, integers, operations, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Furthermore, spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,”“lower,” “above,” “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease ofdescription to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. The spatiallyrelative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of thedevice in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted inthe figures. The apparatus may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degreesor at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors usedherein may likewise be interpreted accordingly.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and thepresent disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized oroverly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Reference is made to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a thermalchemical vapor deposition (CVD) system 100 in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the thermalchemical vapor deposition system 100 includes a bottom chamber 110, anupper chamber 120, a workpiece support 130, a heater 140 and at leastone shielding plate 150. The upper chamber 120 is present over thebottom chamber 110. The upper chamber 120 and the bottom chamber 110form a processing chamber 115 and define a chamber space S therebetween.The workpiece support 130 is configured to support a workpiece P in thechamber space S of the processing chamber 115. The heater 140 isconfigured to apply heat to the workpiece P. The shielding plate 150 isconfigured to at least partially shield the bottom chamber 110 from theheat.

To be more specific, the bottom chamber 110 has an upper surface 111facing to the chamber space S. In details, the processing chamber 115has a bottom wall 116 and the upper surface 111 is located on the bottomwall 116. Furthermore, the upper surface 111 has an asymmetricreflectance against the heat. In some embodiments, the thermal chemicalvapor deposition system 100 further includes at least one mechanicalpart 160. The mechanical part 160 is present on the bottom chamber 110.A combination of the mechanical part 160 and the bottom chamber 110 hasthe upper surface 111 facing to the chamber space S. The presence of themechanical part 160 on the bottom chamber 110 leads to the asymmetricreflectance against the heat of the upper surface 111.

As shown in FIG. 1, the heater 140 is disposed between the workpiecesupport 130 and the shielding plate 150. In some embodiments, theshielding plate 150 at least partially overlaps the upper surface 111 ofthe bottom chamber 110. To be more specific, the shielding plate 150 atleast partially overlaps the mechanical part 160. In some embodiments,the shielding plate 150 is a reflector and has a reflecting surface 151facing to the workpiece support 130, and the reflecting surface 151 hasa reflectance against the heat. The shielding plate 150 as the reflectoris present between the heater 140 and the bottom wall 116 of theprocessing chamber 115. During the operation of the thermal chemicalvapor deposition system 100, the heat emitted from the heater 140 awayfrom the workpiece P will be reflected towards the workpiece P. In thisway, the heat emitted from the heater 140 away from the workpiece P canbe reflected towards the workpiece P by the reflecting surface 151 ofthe shielding plate 150 in an even manner, facilitating an eventemperature distribution of the workpiece P and thus the chamber space Sin which the workpiece P is disposed. Therefore, with an eventemperature distribution of the workpiece P and the chamber space S, theperformance of the thermal chemical vapor deposition system 100 isimproved.

Technically speaking, for the reflecting surface 151 of the shieldingplate 150 to have one reflectance against the heat, the reflectingsurface 151 of the shielding plate 150 is polished to a certain degree,namely the first level of polishing. In other words, the reflectingsurface 151 of the shielding plate 150 is polished to have the firstlevel of polishing. With the first level of polishing, the heat emittedfrom the heater 140 away from the workpiece P can be reflected towardsthe workpiece P in an even manner.

Reference is made to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a shielding plate150 in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure.In some embodiments, the reflecting surface 151 of the shielding plate150 has at least two reflecting regions. For example, as shown in FIG.2, the reflecting surface 151 of the shielding plate 150 has at leastone first reflecting region 151 a and at least one second reflectingregion 151 b. The first reflecting region 151 a and the secondreflecting region 151 b have different reflectances against the heat.

In some other embodiments, the reflecting surface 151 of the shieldingplate 150 can be formed by the lamination of plates with respectivelydifferent sizes and different reflectances, such that a third reflectingregion, a fourth reflecting region, and a fifth reflecting region etc.are exposed according to actual situations.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, the reflecting surface 151 has atleast two reflecting regions, or a plurality of reflecting regions, suchas the first reflecting region 151 a and the second reflecting region151 b for instance. Each of the reflecting regions has a reflectanceagainst the heat. In some embodiments, the reflectance against the heatof each of the reflecting regions is determined by the level ofpolishing of the corresponding reflecting region. As mentioned above,the first reflecting region 151 a has the first level of polishing.Similarly, the second reflecting region 151 b has a second level ofpolishing. This means the first reflecting region 151 a has areflectance corresponding to the first level of polishing, while thesecond reflecting region 151 b has a reflectance corresponding to thesecond level of polishing. Practically speaking, the second level ofpolishing is different from the first level of polishing.

In addition, in some embodiments, the level of polishing of each of thereflecting regions is determined by the degree of roughness of thecorresponding reflecting region. In other words, the roughness of eachof the reflecting regions determines the amount of the heat from theheater 140 to be reflected towards the workpiece P by the correspondingreflecting region. In some embodiments, the reflecting regions havedifferent roughnesses. In other words, at least two of the roughnessesare different. This means, the roughnesses of at least two of thereflecting regions are different, such that at least two of thereflectances against the heat are different. To be more specific, asmentioned above, the first reflecting region 151 a has the first levelof polishing while the second reflecting region 151 b has the secondlevel of polishing, where the second level of polishing is differentfrom the first level of polishing.

Furthermore, in practical applications, the allocation of the reflectingregions on the reflecting surface 151 of the shielding plate 150 can bedetermined according to the actual situations. For instance, if it isdetected that a portion of the workpiece P has a lower temperature thanthe other portion of the workpiece P, the reflecting surface 151 can bedesigned such that the reflecting region with a higher reflectance, suchas the reflecting region 151 a, is located corresponding to the portionof the workpiece P with the lower temperature. In this way, more amountof heat from the heater 140 can be reflected towards the portion of theworkpiece P with the lower temperature. Meanwhile, the reflecting regionwith a lower reflectance, such as the reflecting region 151 b, islocated corresponding to the other portion of the workpiece P with thehigher temperature. In this way, less amount of heat from the heater 140can be reflected towards the portion of the workpiece P with the highertemperature. As a result, the temperature difference between the portionof the workpiece P with the lower temperature and the other portion ofthe workpiece P with the relatively higher temperature is reduced. Thus,an even temperature distribution of the workpiece P and thus the chamberspace S in which the workpiece P is disposed can be facilitated.Consequently, with an even temperature distribution of the workpiece Pand the chamber space S, the performance of the thermal chemical vapordeposition system 100 is improved.

For the sake of clarity, it is assumed that the first level of polishingcorresponds to a higher reflectance while the second level of polishingcorresponds to a relatively lower reflectance. If it is detected that aportion of the workpiece P has a lower temperature than the otherportion of the workpiece P, the reflecting surface 151 can be designedsuch that the first reflecting region 151 a is located corresponding tothe portion of the workpiece P with the lower temperature. On thecontrary, the second reflecting region 151 b is located corresponding tothe portion of the workpiece P with the relatively higher temperature.As a result, the temperature difference between the portion of theworkpiece P with the lower temperature and the other portion of theworkpiece P with the relatively higher temperature is reduced. Thus, aneven temperature distribution of the workpiece P and thus the chamberspace S in which the workpiece P is disposed can be facilitated.Consequently, with an even temperature distribution of the workpiece Pand the chamber space S, the performance of the thermal chemical vapordeposition system 100 is improved.

In some embodiments, the reflectance against the heat of each of thereflecting regions is determined by the nature of the material of thecorresponding reflecting region. To be more specific, each of thereflecting regions includes a material, which determines the reflectanceagainst the heat of the corresponding reflecting region. In someembodiments, the reflecting regions as the sub-reflectors are made ofdifferent materials. In other words, at least two of the materials aredifferent, such that at least two of the reflectances against the heatare different. To be more specific, the first reflecting region 151 aand the second reflecting region 151 b include different materials, suchthat the reflectance against the heat of the first reflecting region 151a is different from the reflectance against the heat of the secondreflecting region 151 b.

Again, as mentioned above, the allocation of the reflecting regions onthe reflecting surface 151 can be determined according to the actualsituations. For the sake of clarity, it is assumed that the materialincluded by the first reflecting region 151 a corresponds to a higherreflectance against the heat while the material included by the secondregion 151 b corresponds to a relatively lower reflectance against theheat. If it is detected that a portion of the workpiece P has a lowertemperature than the other portion of the workpiece P, the reflectingsurface 151 can be designed such that the first reflecting region 151 ais located corresponding to the portion of the workpiece P with thelower temperature. On the contrary, the second reflecting region 151 bis located corresponding to the portion of the workpiece P with therelatively higher temperature. As a result, the temperature differencebetween the portion of the workpiece P with the lower temperature andthe other portion of the workpiece P with the relatively highertemperature is reduced. Thus, an even temperature distribution of theworkpiece P and thus the chamber space S in which the workpiece P isdisposed can be facilitated. Consequently, with an even temperaturedistribution of the workpiece P and the chamber space S, the performanceof the thermal chemical vapor deposition system 100 is improved.

In some embodiments, the material included by the first reflectingregions 151 a can be a metal. On the contrary, the material included bythe second reflecting regions 151 b can be ceramic. Relatively speaking,the metal has a higher reflectance against the heat than ceramic. Thismeans more amount of heat will be reflected towards the workpiece P bymetal, and relatively less amount of heat will be reflected towards theworkpiece P by ceramic. To be more specific, in some other embodiments,the material to be included by the reflecting regions of the reflectingsurface 151 can be, for instance, aluminum, aluminum alloy, ceramic suchas aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), silicon carbide (SiC), quartz, carbon coatedwith silicon carbide or polytetrafluoroethene (Teflon) etc. On the otherhand, with regards to the different materials to be included by thereflecting regions of the reflecting surface 151, different proceduresof surface treatments are correspondingly employed, such as coating,blasting, cutting and/or approaches for achieving different levels ofroughness. Furthermore, in case of surface treatments, chemical coatingof nickel, anodic treatment such as coating of aluminum oxide, coatingof yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃), coating of yttrium fluoride (YF₃), coating ofsilicon carbide, coating of polytetrafluoroethene and various types ofcoating can be employed according to the actual conditions.

Reference is made to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is an explored view of a shieldingplate 150 in accordance with some other embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In practical applications, unlike the shielding plate 150 asa single piece as shown in FIG. 2, the shielding plate 150 can be formedby the lamination of a plurality of subsidiary plates. For example, asshown in FIG. 3, the shielding plate 150 is formed by a subsidiary plate1501, a subsidiary plate 1502 and a subsidiary plate 1503. Thesubsidiary plate 1501, the subsidiary plate 1502 and the subsidiaryplate 1503 have different reflectances from each other. Furthermore, thesubsidiary plate 1501 has a smaller surface than that of the subsidiaryplate 1502, while the subsidiary plate 1502 has a smaller surface thanthat of the subsidiary plate 1503. When the subsidiary plate 1501 islaminated on the subsidiary plate 1502, the portion of the subsidiaryplate 1502 not overlapped by the subsidiary plate 1501 is exposed to bethe second reflecting region 151 b. In addition, when the subsidiaryplate 1502 is laminated on the subsidiary plate 1503, the portion of thesubsidiary plate 1503 not overlapped by the subsidiary plate 1502 isexposed to be the second reflecting region 151 a. Moreover, the surfaceof the subsidiary plate 1501 can be the third reflecting region 151 c.

Reference is made to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a shielding plate150 in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure.In some embodiments, the shielding plate 150 includes a plurality ofreflecting sections 153. The reflecting sections 153 are thesub-reflectors. The reflecting sections 153 as the sub-reflectors aredetachably connected to each other. In practice, at least one of thereflecting sections 153 is in a shape of a sector, a polygon, a ringsection, or combinations thereof. Moreover, the allocation of thereflecting sections 153 is independent of the allocation of thereflecting regions. This means at least one reflecting region can beallocated on each piece of the reflecting sections 153. In other words,as least one reflecting section 153 as the sub-reflector has the firstreflecting region 151 a and the second reflecting region 151 b. As shownin FIG. 4, the reflecting sections 153 in the shapes of sectors aredetached from each other.

During the operation of the thermal chemical vapor deposition system100, the reflecting sections 153 are detachably connected to form thereflecting surface 151 with different reflecting regions. In this way,every single piece of the reflecting sections 153 can be replacedaccording to the actual situations. For instance, if it is detected thata portion of the workpiece P has a lower temperature than the otherportion of the workpiece P, the reflecting section 153 locatedcorresponding to the portion of the workpiece P with the lowertemperature can be replaced for the reflecting section 153 with areflecting region of a higher reflectance against the heat, such thatmore amount of heat from the heater 140 will be reflected towards theportion of the workpiece P with the lower temperature. On the contrary,if it is detected that a portion of the workpiece P has a highertemperature than the other portion of the workpiece P, the reflectingsection 153 located corresponding to the portion of the workpiece P withthe higher temperature can be replaced for the reflecting section 153with a reflecting region of a lower reflectance against the heat, suchthat less amount of heat from the heater 140 will be reflected towardsthe portion of the workpiece P with the higher temperature. Thus, aneven temperature distribution of the workpiece P and thus the chamberspace S in which the workpiece P is disposed can be facilitated.Consequently, with an even temperature distribution of the workpiece Pand the chamber space S, the performance of the thermal chemical vapordeposition system 100 is improved.

Since the reflectance against the heat of the shielding plate 150 can besimply adjusted by replacing any of the reflecting sections 153 with anappropriate reflectance against the heat according to the actualsituations, the temperature distribution of the workpiece P and thus thechamber space S can be conveniently controlled. As a result, with aneven temperature distribution of the workpiece P and the chamber spaceS, the performance of the thermal chemical vapor deposition system 100is improved in a simple and convenient manner.

Furthermore, in case it is detected that there is an uneven temperaturedistribution of the workpiece P, instead of replacing the shieldingplate 150 as a whole, replacement of the relevant reflecting sections153 can already help to achieve the even temperature distribution of theworkpiece P and thus the chamber space S in which the workpiece P isdisposed. Therefore, the time and cost involved for the adjustment ofthe reflectance against the heat of the shielding plate 150 iseffectively reduced. In other words, the efficiency of the thermalchemical vapor deposition system 100 is correspondingly increased.

For instance, in some embodiments, at least one of the reflectingsections 153 has the first reflecting region 151 a while at leastanother one of the reflecting sections 153 has the second reflectingregion 151 b. In this way, the reflecting surface 151 of the shieldingplate 150 has both the first reflecting region 151 a and the secondreflecting region 151 b. This means, in case it is detected that thereis an uneven temperature distribution of the workpiece P, the relevantreflecting sections 153 can be replaced appropriately as mentioned abovein order to achieve the even temperature distribution of the workpiece Pand thus the chamber space S in which the workpiece P is disposed.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, at least one of the reflectingsections 153 has both the first reflecting region 151 a and the secondreflecting region 151 b according to the actual situations. In this way,the allocation of the first reflecting regions 151 a and the secondreflecting regions 151 b on the reflecting surface 151 of the shieldingplate 150 can be more flexible, fulfilling the actual situations in amore precise manner.

Reference is made to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a shielding plate150 in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 5, again, the shielding plate 150 includes a pluralityof reflecting sections 153. According to actual situations, each of thereflecting sections 153 can be in a shape of a polygon. Similarly,during the operation of the thermal chemical vapor deposition system100, the reflecting sections 153 are detachably connected to form thereflecting surface 151 of the shielding plate 150 with differentreflecting regions.

Similarly as mentioned above, the reflecting regions include the firstreflecting region 151 a and the second reflecting region 151 b, in whichthe first reflecting region 151 a has the first level of polishing whilethe second reflecting region 151 b has the second level of polishing.Each of the reflecting sections 153 in the shape of a polygon can haveat least one first reflecting region 151 a and/or at least one secondreflecting region 151 b. In this way, the allocation of the firstreflecting regions 151 a and the second reflecting regions 151 b on thereflecting surface 151 of the shielding plate 150 can be more flexible,fulfilling the actual situations in a more precise manner.

Reference is made to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a shielding plate150 in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 6, again, the shielding plate 150 includes a pluralityof reflecting sections 153. According to actual situations, each of thereflecting sections 153 can be in a shape of a ring section. Similarly,during the operation of the thermal chemical vapor deposition system100, the reflecting sections 153 are detachably connected to form thereflecting surface 151 of the shielding plate 150 with differentreflecting regions.

Similarly as mentioned above, the reflecting regions include the firstreflecting region 151 a and the second reflecting region 151 b, in whichthe first reflecting region 151 a has the first level of polishing whilethe second reflecting region 151 b has the second level of polishing.Each of the reflecting sections 153 in the shape of a ring section canhave at least one first reflecting region 151 a and/or at least onesecond reflecting region 151 b. In this way, the allocation of the firstreflecting regions 151 a and the second reflecting regions 151 b on thereflecting surface 151 of the shielding plate 150 can be more flexible,fulfilling the actual situations in a more precise manner.

Structurally speaking, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, 5-6, the shielding plate150 has an opening 154 therein. As shown in FIG. 1, the thermal chemicalvapor deposition system 100 further includes at least one lift pin 170.The lift pin 170 is connected to the workpiece support 130 at leastthrough the opening 154 of the shielding plate 150, and also the bottomwall 116. Thus, the workpiece support 130 can be located between theworkpiece P and the shielding plate 150.

Practically speaking, the chemical vapor deposition is a chemicalprocess adopted in the semiconductor manufacturing industry to producefilms. In general, a substrate is exposed to one or more volatileprecursors, which react and/or decompose on the substrate to produce thefilm of deposit. In some embodiments, the workpiece P as mentioned aboveis the substrate. With reference to the thermal chemical vapordeposition system 100 as mentioned above, the embodiments of the presentdisclosure further provide a method for processing the substrate. Themethod includes the following steps (it is appreciated that the sequenceof the steps and the sub-steps as mentioned below, unless otherwisespecified, all can be adjusted according to the actual situations, oreven executed at the same time or partially at the same time):

(1) applying heat to the substrate in the processing chamber 115, whileat least a part of the heat transferring towards the bottom wall 116 ofthe processing chamber 115.

(2) at least partially shielding the bottom wall 116 of the processingchamber 115 from said part of the heat transferring towards the bottomwall 116 of the processing chamber 115.

To be more specific, during the operation of the thermal chemical vapordeposition system 100, at least a part of the heat from the heater 140is transferred towards the bottom wall 116 of the processing chamber115. However, since the bottom wall 116 of the processing chamber 115 isat least partially shielded, the bottom wall 116 of the processingchamber 115 does not receive the heat from the heater 140. Thus, thebottom wall 116 of the processing chamber 115 does not reflect the heatfrom the heater 140.

In addition that the bottom wall 116 of the processing chamber 115 doesnot receive the heat from the heater 140, the step (2) of at leastpartially shielding the bottom wall 116 of the processing chamber 115further includes the following sub-step:

(2.1) at least partially reflecting said part of the heat transferringtowards the bottom wall 116 of the processing chamber 115.

To be more specific, the part of the heat from the heater 140 towardsthe bottom wall 116 of the processing chamber 115 is reflected towardsthe substrate instead of reaching the bottom wall 116 of the processingchamber 115. Thus, the temperature in the processing chamber 115 andthus the efficiency of the operation of the thermal chemical vapordeposition system 100 is maintained. Furthermore, in order tofacilitating an even temperature distribution of the substrate and aneven temperature distribution of processing chamber 115 in which thesubstrate is disposed, the said part of the heat transferring towardsthe bottom wall 116 of the processing chamber 115 is at least partiallyreflected by the nonuniformly reflecting surface 151.

Since the nonuniformly reflecting surface 151 reflects the heatnonuniformly, the nonuniformity can be adjusted according to the actualsituation such that, as mentioned above, the heat reflected to thesubstrate can lead to an even temperature distribution of the substrateand thus an even temperature distribution of processing chamber 115 inwhich the substrate is disposed. Therefore, with an even temperaturedistribution of the substrate and an even temperature distribution ofprocessing chamber 115, the performance of the thermal chemical vapordeposition system 100 is improved.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, during theoperation of the thermal chemical vapor deposition system, the heatemitted from the heater away from the workpiece will be reflectedtowards the workpiece. In this way, the heat emitted from the heateraway from the workpiece can be reflected towards the workpiece by thereflecting surface of the shielding plate in an even manner,facilitating an even temperature distribution of the workpiece and thusthe chamber space in which the workpiece is disposed. Therefore, with aneven temperature distribution of the workpiece and the chamber space,the performance of the thermal chemical vapor deposition system isimproved.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the thermalchemical vapor deposition system includes the bottom chamber, the upperchamber, the workpiece support, the heater and at least one shieldingplate. The upper chamber is present over the bottom chamber, in whichthe upper chamber and the bottom chamber define the chamber spacetherebetween. The workpiece support is configured to support theworkpiece in the chamber space. The heater is configured to apply heatto the workpiece. The shielding plate is configured to at leastpartially shield the bottom chamber from the heat.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the thermalchemical vapor deposition system includes the processing chamber, theworkpiece support, the heater and at least one reflector. The processingchamber has the bottom wall. The workpiece support is configured tosupport the workpiece in the processing chamber. The heater isconfigured to apply heat to the workpiece. The reflector is presentbetween the heater and the bottom wall of the processing chamber. Thereflector has the reflecting surface facing to the workpiece, in whichthe reflecting surface has at least one reflectance against the heat.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the methodfor operating the thermal chemical vapor deposition system includesapplying heat to the workpiece in the processing chamber, while at leasta part of the heat transferring towards the bottom wall of theprocessing chamber, and at least partially shielding the bottom wall ofthe processing chamber from said part of the heat transferring towardsthe bottom wall of the processing chamber.

One general aspect of embodiments disclosed herein includes a method forprocessing a substrate, the method including: applying heat to thesubstrate in a processing chamber, while at least a part of the heattransferring towards a bottom wall of the processing chamber; and atleast partially shielding the bottom wall of the processing chamber fromsaid part of the heat transferring towards the bottom wall of theprocessing chamber.

Another general aspect of embodiments disclosed herein includes a methodfor processing a substrate, the method including: applying heat to thesubstrate in a processing chamber, where a portion of the heat istransferred towards a bottom wall of the processing chamber; andreflecting at least some of the heat transferred towards the bottom wallof the processing chamber back toward the substrate by use of ashielding plate, the shielding plate having a first reflecting surfacewith a first reflectance and a second reflecting surface with a secondreflectance, different than the first reflectance, where the shieldplate is configured to uniformly reflect heat back toward the substrate.

Yet another general aspect of embodiments disclosed herein includes amethod of processing a substrate, the method including: applying heat tothe substrate in a processing chamber, where at least a part of the heattransfers towards a bottom wall of the processing chamber; interposingbetween the substrate and the bottom wall of the processing chamber ashielding plate having a first region with a first level of reflectivityand a second region with a second level of reflectivity different thanthe first level; and using said shielding plate, at least partiallyshielding the bottom wall of the processing chamber from said part ofthe heat transferring towards the bottom wall of the processing chamber.

The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that thoseskilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the presentdisclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they mayreadily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifyingother processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/orachieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein.Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalentconstructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions, andalterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for processing a substrate, the methodcomprising: applying heat to the substrate in a processing chamber,while at least a part of the heat transferring towards a bottom wall ofthe processing chamber; and at least partially shielding the bottom wallof the processing chamber from said part of the heat transferringtowards the bottom wall of the processing chamber.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the at least partially shielding comprises: at leastpartially reflecting said part of the heat transferring towards thebottom wall of the processing chamber.
 3. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising exposing the substrate to at least one volatile precursorwhich reacts and/or decomposes on the substrate to produce a film. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising tuning the first and secondreflectance in response to actual conditions within the chamber.
 5. Themethod of claim 2, wherein said part of the heat transferring towardsthe bottom wall of the processing chamber is at least partiallyreflected by a non-uniformly reflecting surface.
 6. The method of claim5, further comprising positioning a heater between the substrate and thenon-uniformly reflecting surface.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein thenon-uniformly reflecting surface comprises pie-shaped regions ofdifferent reflectances.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein thenon-uniformly reflecting surface comprises concentric rings of differentreflectances.
 9. A method for processing a substrate, the methodcomprising: applying heat to the substrate in a processing chamber,wherein a portion of the heat is transferred towards a bottom wall ofthe processing chamber; and reflecting at least some of the heattransferred towards the bottom wall of the processing chamber backtoward the substrate by use of a shielding plate, the shielding platehaving a first reflecting surface with a first reflectance and a secondreflecting surface with a second reflectance, different than the firstreflectance, wherein the shield plate is configured to uniformly reflectheat back toward the substrate.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theshielding plate is positioned between the substrate and a chamber wallthat would non-uniformly reflect heat back toward the substrate in theabsence of the shielding plate.
 11. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising tuning the first and second reflectance in response to actualconditions within the chamber.
 12. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising at least partially shielding the bottom wall of theprocessing chamber from the portion of the heat that is transferredtowards the bottom wall of the processing chamber by use of theshielding plate.
 13. The method of claim 9, further comprising exposingthe substrate to one or more volatile precursors which react and/ordecompose on the substrate to produce a film.
 14. The method of claim 9,wherein the shielding plate comprises pie-shaped regions of differentreflectances.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein the shielding platecomprises concentric rings of different reflectances.
 16. A method ofprocessing a substrate, the method comprising: applying heat to thesubstrate in a processing chamber, wherein at least a part of the heattransfers towards a bottom wall of the processing chamber; interposingbetween the substrate and the bottom wall of the processing chamber ashielding plate having a first region with a first level of reflectivityand a second region with a second level of reflectivity different thanthe first level; and using said shielding plate, at least partiallyshielding the bottom wall of the processing chamber from said part ofthe heat transferring towards the bottom wall of the processing chamber.17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: using said shieldingplate, at least partially reflecting said part of the heat transferringtowards the bottom wall of the processing chamber.
 18. The method ofclaim 16, wherein said at least partially reflecting said part of theheat transferring towards the bottom wall of the processing chamber isat least partially reflected uniformly toward the substrate.
 19. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising exposing the substrate to atleast one volatile precursor which reacts and/or decomposes on thesubstrate to produce a film.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein theshielding plate is divided into region of different reflectivity andwith shapes selected from the group consisting of pie-shaped regions,concentric rings, random shapes, and grid patterns.